EHL Round 1 in Barcelona – Day 1 Round up

On a thrilling day one of the Euro Hockey League Round 1 in Barcelona, East Grinstead, Racing Club de France and WKS Grunwald Poznan claimed close-fought wins while SV Arminen turned in the performance of the day.
It sets up day two of the competition perfectly; with four more teams entering the fray, starting their battle for a ticket to the KO16. Here’s a rundown on how day one panned out:

Pool A: East Grinstead 4 (Mark Gleghorne 2, Wesley Jackson, Simon Faulkner) Dinamo Stroitel 3 (Artem Dryanistsyn, Linar Fattakhov, Dmitry Volkov)
East Grinstead survived a huge fright to eventually see off Dinamo Stroitel and set up a do-or-die clash with Kampong on Saturday evening in Pool D.
They trailed 3-1 at one point as Artem Dryanitsyn, Linar Fattakhov and Dmitry Volkov’s penalty was countered by a Mark Gleghorne tip-in. Wesley Jackson, however, brought the gap back to 2-3 at half-time and second half penalty corners from Gleghorne and Simon Faulkner then put the English side in front.
They had some nervous moments after that but just about held on for the win. EG play Kampong on Saturday evening at 5.30pm for a place in the KO16.

Pool B: Monkstown 1 (Gareth Watkins) Racing Club de France 2 (James Kirkpatrick, Simon Martin-Brisac)
Racing Club de France took the laurels from a hotly contested tussle of the new boys in Barcelona, shading their battle with Irish champions Monkstown.
Racing were 2-0 up at the half-time interval with a goal in each of the quarters. Canadian international James Kirkpatrick touched home the first before Simon Martin-Brisac profited from a quickly taken long corner.
The Irish club improved significantly in the second half and evenutally got one back through Gareth Watkins but eight missed penalty corners cost them dear.
For Racing, the debut win means a win on Sunday against Daring puts them into the KO16. Monkstown play the Belgian side tomorrow knowing anything other than a big win see them eliminated.

Pool C
HC Bra 2 (Joseph Bartholomew, Priyesh Bhana) WKS Grunwald Poznan 3 (Tomasz Marcinkowski, Artur Mikula, Karol Majchrzak)
WKS Grunwald Poznan produced a brilliant comeback to beat HC Bra 3-2 in the first game of Round One of the Euro Hockey League in Barcelona, coming from two goals down to succeed.
New Zealand duo Joseph Bartholomew and Priyesh Bhana gave the Italians a shock 2-0 lead early in the second half as they pursued their first ever win in the competition.
But Tomasz Marcinkowski quickly replied before Artur Mikula finished off an excellent move, punishing a loose aerial out of defence in devastating fashion.
With ten minutes to go, Karol Majchrzak duly completed the comeback when he swept home Mikula’s right-wing pull-back to break the Italian hearts. On Saturday, Grunwald are back in action with a game against Rot-Weiss Koln at 10am (local time).

Pool D
Bromac Kelburne 2 (Mark Ralph, Iain Scholefield) SV Arminen 5 (Alexander Bele 2, Michael Berger, Sebastian Eitenberger, Robert Bele)
SV Arminen have given themselves a great shot at getting through to the KO16 as they beat Scottish champions Bromac Kelburne 5-2 with Alexander Bele’s first half double the key component.
His early sliding effort was cancelled out by a Mark Ralph corner goal in the fifth minute. But Arminen stormed into a 4-1 lead and never looked totally in danger thereafter as Bele, Michael Berger and Sebastian Eitenberger were on the mark.
Iain Scholefield got one back but a Robert Bele effort two minutes from the end completed the win.
Arminen will play Atletic Terrassa on Saturday with a win guaranteeing them a place in the KO16.